Page:Lars Henning Söderhjelm - The Red Insurrection in Finland in 1918 - tr. Annie Ingebord Fausbøll (1920).djvu/109

 torn from out of the talons of the revolution. The telegram in which the population of South Finland, which had been brought to the verge of despair, found all these promising communications ran as follows:—

"The outrages, pillage and murder committed among the peaceful population by the lowest elements in the community together with the Russian soldiers, among which outrages especially the occurrences at Viborg have excited the fierce indignation of the liberty-loving peasants at Østerbotten, have obliged me to disarm the Russian troops at Wasa, Lappo, Ylistaro, Seinäjoki, Jakobstad, Gamlakarleby and other places.

"If the Red Guardsmen do not submit to the lawful Government, the exasperated peasant troops of this country will be obliged with arms in hand to pass judgment on the traitors.

"A guarantee of personal safety is given to the 5,000 disarmed Russian soldiers, and they will be liberated as soon as an arrangement to that effect has been come to between Finland and Russia.

"The Commander-in-Chief of the Protective Corps,

"."

So then there was a White army, as well as a Red one. Not for one instant was the final victory of the White doubted.

But the great thing was to offer resistance to the Red even in those parts where they had appropriated the power. A call was made for a general strike among the functionaries, and it was carried through without the least disagreement. Only the physicians and the rationing departments continued work. The banks were kept closed, and the Employers' Union stopped all manufacturing business. Life became extremely